Yell’s Digital Overhaul Coming This Summer

Yell Group has set a July timetable for announcing the conclusion of its strategic review, which it set in motion early this year in the face of continuing declines at its printed Yellow Pages business.

2010/11 print revenue fell 18.6 percent and the grop lost nearly 10 percent of its print advertisers (1,195,000). It added nearly as many digital advertisers (902,000), pushing digital media revenue up 9.4 percent to £457 million, or 24.3 percent of the total, the group reported on Tuesday. But, in the latest quarter, digital revenue growth slowed to seven percent.

“The digital marketplace is already twice the size of the total print market and some ten times larger than the segments of the print market Yell traditionally addressed,” CEO Mike Pocock said in earnings. “Small shares of this fast growing and highly fragmented market can mean very significant, profitable growth.”

“This is what we intend to deliver, whilst nurturing our print business for the strong cash flows it will continue to provide for years to come … We are not counting on an improvement in the economic environment.”

Yell says it has clocked six million app downloads to date and Yell.com the group claimed 55.8 million unique visitors in March.